Tina May - A Wing And A Prayer (2006)

Singer Tina May's understated chamber-group settings and soft ballads have not exactly grabbed the jazz public by the lapels. But while A Wing and a Prayer is a contemplative album, it's full of subtle activity. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, a duet with Stan Sulzmann, is a standout track, with May's sliding pitching and airy sound dancing around his Cool School-inflected phrasing.

Nikki Iles's piano is full of rich implications, subtle turns and mellow harmonies, and it's beautifully recorded: the deep resonances seem to come up through the floor. Iles slyly boogies alongside May on Who Can I Turn To?, while, on Black Narcissus, the pair are tied so close together that they sound like one instrument. But for fans of the orthodox romantic ballad, meticulously but freshly performed, it's a state-of-the-art exercise. ~John Fordham -The Guardian